Chicken Soup
by theredhood
Summary: Two unlikely people manage to be good for each other, for now. Genrou aka Tasuki and...?


Chicken Soup  
Author: the red hood  
Rating: R, just in case  
07-22-01  
  
This story takes canon, then completely shreds it to pieces. Hell, it's been so long since I've seen FY, that the canon I do use is probably all off anyway. Oh! And none of my works have been beta read... *evil, manic laughter* Well, enjoy, anyway! And please ignore the crappy title. Thank you.  
  
  
  
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Cold concrete touched the skin of his cheek. Genrou forced his eyes open through the gumminess that had sealed them shut. His head was throbbing. He pushed himself off the floor with a grunt, and pain lanced through his head.  
  
"Shit."   
  
Genrou gripped his head as he stared at the dark saliva marks that he'd left on the floor. He was in a storage room lined with wooden shelves full of bags and boxes. The only light came through the halfway ajar door before him. Genrou lifted an arm and clutched onto the shelf structure beside him. Dust crept into his nostrils, and a sneeze barked from his throat. Genrou gritted his teeth harshly against the pain, digging his nails into the wood.   
  
He staggered to his feet, swaying for a moment as he tried to orient himself with his aching body. He took a step and almost collapsed as his left leg gave out. Steadying himself, he tried putting weight on his foot again. It was twisted, not bad enough to be crippling, but more than enough to hinder. Genrou looked down at his shirt, just noticing that it was covered with ale, and that he stunk of sweat and grime along with alcohol. His jaw ached as he remembered flashes of the drunken fight the night before. He lifted a hand and ran his fingers along his jaw. That was going to be one ugly bruise. Sighing, he began to rip off a strip from the bottom of his white tunic as he briefly wondered through the hammering in his head what had happened to his overcoat. He wrapped the strip around his ankle as tight as it would allow and tested his foot again. It twinged painfully, but the pain was far from levels he couldn't ignore.   
  
Genrou smirked as he headed for the door with only the slightest of limps outwardly evident. The storage room door opened with a loud protest that screeched how badly the hinges were in need of oiling. He found himself at the end of a hall, leaving only one way to go. Shrugging to himself, he headed towards the closed door at the far end. He pushed the door open and found himself facing the bar he remembered slamming into last night. He groaned audibly. A man looked up from where he was wiping off the counter. He had a small stature, with short, dark hair and a mustache.   
  
"Oh, I see sleeping beauty is awake." The man smiled brightly, looking far too upbeat for the morning.   
  
Genrou's stomach hadn't been feeling well since he'd woken up, but now it chose to flip over itself.  
  
"You got a wash room?" Genrou managed through clenched teeth. The man pointed, and Genrou ran.  
  
A few minutes later, Genrou emerged from the wash room, looking a bit less pale.  
  
"We threw you in to the store room after the fight, just so you know. Are you cooled down now?" The man smirked as he wiped one of the tables clean. Genrou's eyebrow twitched. The man finished off the table with a flourish of the cloth he was wielding. "Your oversized jacket is by the entrance."  
  
"Oversized ja-"  
  
"I suggest you have a good day and never return," the man said pleasantly.  
  
Genrou scowled. "So why didn't you throw me out on the street?"  
  
"You didn't start the fight. And you seemed to have a lot on your mind. Alcohol isn't the answer, though. I'd avoid bars in the future if I were you."  
  
Genrou grunted as he headed for his overcoat. "Whatever." He slid on the overcoat, sliding it comfortably over his shoulders. Pausing at the door he looked back one last time. "Thanks for everything." He winked. "Ojiisan." He slipped out of the door, slamming it behind him. Nothing followed to crash against the door.  
  
"Feh. Iron constitution." Dizzyness swept over him, and he leaned against the outside wall. "Dammit. Weak." He spat on the ground and pushed himself away from the support of the wall.  
  
The sun was up at the highest point in the sky. Midday. He'd been out for longer than he'd thought. Genrou walked aimlessly down the street passing random vendors and people rushing about on their business. He turned down an alley to get away from the bustle. He wandered about, getting nowhere until he finally chose a random wall to lounge against. He should get back to Koji and the others...  
  
Footsteps raced by him, and Genrou turned in time to see a flash of blond and brown followed by three scruffy looking men running through the alley that intersected the one he was in. He frowned and ran a hand through his grimy, firey hair.  
  
"None of my business." Genrou turned to walk back the way he came. A high pitched scream sounded, followed by a muffled shout. Genrou stopped in mid-stride and clenched his right hand at his side, his nails digging into his palm. He spun around and darted for the intersection of the alleyways. The three men were leaning over someone...a girl? She was struggling, occasionally managing to yell out. One was holding her down, while the other two...  
  
A shrill whistle pierced the air. The men turned around in shock and anger.  
  
"Hey," Genrou said in a soft voice that turned hard. "When people disturb me..." He held up a hand before his face and slowly drew the fingers down into a fist. "It really pisses me off."  
  
One of the men spat on the ground before the blond girl, who was shivering in fear. "Asshole. You wanna join in?" He leered.  
  
Genrou lowered his fist, then shrugged. "Sure." The men grinned at him. Genrou disappeared. Before the men could even gasp in shock, he had appeared behind one of them. "Yo, shithead." The man started to turn around when knucklebones slammed into his temple, sending him into an unconscious heap five feet away. The man next to him threw a punch at Genrou, his eyes still widened with shock at the other man's speed. Genrou dodged the blow easily, a lopsided, fang-filled sneer sneaking onto his face. He darted in underneath the out stretched arm and sent an uppercut straight up into the solar plexus, hurling the would-be rapist into the alley wall.  
  
A fist cracked against the back of his head. Genrou barely managed to turn in time to block the other fist that flew from the third man. He drove past it to send his elbow smashing into the guy's forehead, crumpling the man back against the wall. Genrou glanced from the man beneath him to the one struggling to get up from the ground behind him. He cracked his knuckles harshly.  
  
"You bastards want more? I *will* beat you to death," Genrou said as a matter of fact. "Take your idiot there," he nodded at the unconscious heap, "and get out of here. Now." The men scrambled up and dragged their friend off.  
  
Genrou shifted his gaze to the girl huddled in the corner. His voice barely softened. "Well?" The girl stared back with the widest blue eyes, and her cheeks were streaked with tears. Genrou barely restrained himself from rolling his eyes. "You gotta name, or what?"  
  
"Y-Y-Yui." She shrank even farther against the corner.  
  
"Yui, huh. You'll be all right, right?" Yui continued to stare. Genrou sighed softly, his expression softening. She scrambled to her feet and ran at him, clutching at him in a desperate hug.  
  
"Hey!" Genrou's eyes widened. The girl began to sob against his jacket. He looked down at her blond head uncertainly. "Shit." After a moment, he tentatively put his arms around Yui. He looked around at everything in the alley but the girl in his arms. When she finally stopped crying, she looked up at him.  
  
"Th-thank you...," she sniffled.  
  
Genrou had an unreadable expression on his face. "The name's Genrou." He chewed his bottom lip. "You got a safe place to go?"  
  
"No..."  
  
"Double shit. What a day."  
  
  
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Genrou found a cheap inn and laid just about the last of his money down for one night's stay. Yui had been clinging to him like a frightened animal the whole way. Genrou sighed as he led the way to a table.   
  
"Do you have to hang on to me like that?"  
  
"Sorry," Yui mumbled.  
  
"Heh," Genrou said as he sat down. "You see those men over there?" Genrou nodded at a group of bandit-type men in the corner. They had been sending glances at the girl ever since she had entered. "You want to avoid their type."  
  
"Like you?"  
  
Genrou laughed aloud. "Exactly." He leaned in close to the girl. "You never know what a guy like me might do..." Yui offered him a tenuous smile. "If you've got no place to go, you've got to learn how to be street smart."  
  
"Would you teach me?" Yui looked hopeful.  
  
"Huh?" Genrou was caught off guard.  
  
"How to fight like you?"  
  
Shock crossed his face. "You'd want to learn? A girl??"  
  
Yui grabbed some of Genrou's unruly hair and tugged. "What are you trying to imply?"  
  
"Ow! What the hell do you think you're doing??" Yui let go and flushed.  
  
"Sorry." She looked down at the table.  
  
Genrou grinned. "Why didn't you show those bastards that spunk?"  
  
"I was scared," Yui said, muttering.  
  
He held up a finger. "Lesson number one: you can be scared as shitless as you'd like to be, but never, ever show them that fear."  
  
"So you'll teach me?" Yui smiled.  
  
Genrou's jaw dropped. "What? I never said..." He scowled. "Women."  
  
A waitress bumped their table. She was wearing an apron and her mousy brown hair was tied back. "What'll it be?" she said gruffly.  
  
"Two noodles, two mugs of ale." Yui opened her mouth to say more, but Genrou smacked his hand over it. He smiled charmingly at the woman. "That's all." The waitress grunted and left. Yui glared at him.  
  
"What? It's all I have money for!"  
  
"I was just going to ask for a water."  
  
"Oh." Genrou rubbed the back of his head. "...Water?" He made a disgusted face. "Water and women. Of course." He looked at Yui, but she was looking everywhere in the inn but at him. He sighed and settled back in his seat.  
  
Their food came out quickly, and they both ate quickly. Yui choked on the bitter ale, causing it to go the wrong way, and Genrou laughed as he pounded on her back until she stopped coughing. She mumbled a thanks. He paid for the meal, and they headed upstairs to a dark, tiny room.   
  
Genrou stared at the single bed. "I'll take the floor," he said as he plopped on the bed. Yui raised her eyebrows. "Tonight, I mean."  
  
She sat on the edge of the bed, pulling her knees into herself and hugging them. "So what until them?"  
  
"If I'm right, there should be a festival uptown for one of the temples. I might check that out." He stared at the ceiling, leaning his head back into his arms, which rested against the old and warped bed board. Quiet descended over the room. Finally the bed frame creaked, telling Genrou that Yui was moving. He closed his eyes, which shot open the moment he felt hot breath against his face. He shoved Yui off him.  
  
"What the hell are you doing??"  
  
"I, I-" Yui blushed. "I guess you remind me of someone."  
  
"I hate women." Genrou scowled, staring up at the ceiling and trying to ignore his own flushed cheeks. He was glad the closed curtains left the room in shadows.  
  
"Does that mean, you...you..."  
  
"I what??" Genrou snapped.  
  
"You know...with men."  
  
Genrou bolted upright. "What kinda shit is that? With men?!" Genrou shivered. "That's just..." He screwed his face up in disgust.  
  
"Well, if you don't like women..."  
  
"Look, I just don't like that kind of relationship. And growing up with so many women..."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"Just shut up. That's the end of my story." Genrou got up from the bed and opened the curtains at the window. He looked back at Yui. She looked so small and fragile, huddled on top of the wrinkled sheets.  
  
"So, if you don't like women, why did you rescue me?" Yui stared straight into his eyes.  
  
"Feh. Pigs are worse."  
  
"Okay," Yui said. "I...well, thanks again. I owe you my life."  
  
Genrou puffed out a breath of air. "Don't go throwing around heavy crap like that." He scratched at an itch behind his ear. He briefly pondered the effort of bringing up some water for a bath. "Hey..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Back in the alley, I'm pretty sure you were saying a word or a name? Who or what's Miaka?"  
  
Yui froze. "No one. Someone I used to know."  
  
Genrou looked skeptical. "If you say so..." He leaned an arm on the back of a chair that rested next to the window. "So now, what am I supposed to do with you?"  
  
"Take me to this festival?" Yui asked pleadingly.  
  
He stared at her before scraping the chair along the wooden floor and sitting down heavily.   
  
"What? Drag a girl like you along?" She didn't break her gaze.  
  
A long day... Genrou sighed again.  
  
  
  
  
~owari~ for now...  
  
  
  
  
  
What will become of the tentative relationship between Yui and Genrou? Will they become friends, or will fate draw them onto the path of becoming enemies? Is Nakago pissed that his brilliant plan was interrupted? (Rhetorical question, I know) Will this fic even ever be continued? It all depends on the stars or the tarot cards or the fates or the patterns in the residue inside my toilet bowl.  
  
~the red hood  
  
  
  



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